Safety oil tank



July 12, 1960 J. J. DE BLASIO ET AL SAFETY OIL TANK Filed Oct. 22, 1957 LMMZJ J. flEBLAS/O HENRY PODSIADLO ALFREO SA/vsoNE IN V EN TORS Bhutflgont Byg- Un ted States PatentfO SAFETY OIL TANK James J. De Blasio, 1"19 Woodin Sh, Hamden, Conn.,

Henry Podsiadlo, 27 Hazel St, New Haven, 'Conn., and Alfred Sansone, 184 Foster St., New Haven, Conn.

Filed Oct. 22 1957, Ser. No. 691,595

1 Claim. (Cl. 137 312) stallations. These leaks usually occur when the oil tank is full and the resultant static pressure is the maximum.

The results of such a leak are usually the interruption of the heating until the necessary repairs can be made which, under some conditions may require considerable time, the fire hazard represented by a pool of inflammable oil on the floor, the financial damage due the loss of a large amount of expensive oil.

One of the important objects of this invention is to provide a safety oil tank in which the development of a leak willnot interrupt the heating, as the tank will continue to supply oil to the furnace satisfactorily in spite of the leak, and even during the time the necessary repairs are made. 1'

Another important object of this invention is to provide a safety oil tank in which the development of a leak will not cause the loss of the oil, as the leaked out oil will be collected and preserved for future use. p

A further object of this invention is to provide a safety oil tank which will given a warning in case of a leak, in a simple but very effective manner, not subject to malfunctioning common in mechanical warning devices which are operated very infrequently.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will gency valve 12, which is preferably of the same con-f st-ruction as the said service valve 7, both of which valves.

lead into the supply pipe 8 which carries the oil, through the strainer 9, to the oil burner of the furnace.

The upper section 11 of the rectangular casing is re.- movably supported by brackets 13 secured to the lower section 10, with an air gap between the adjacent edges of the two sections for better ventilation. As an important feature the upper section 11 is provided with vent pipes 14, called detector vent pipes, the function of which is to provide exit for the malodorous gases coming from the oil contained in the lower section 10, in the event oil leaks outfrom the tank 1 into the casing. Figs. 2 and 3 show the preferred form of this detector vent pipe; it is, however, within the spirit of this invention to extend thesevent pipes to any desired point to facilitate the detection of the odor'indicating the presence of oil in the casing. I

,The operation of the present invention is as follows:

The penetrating odor of the gases discharged from the fuel oil is generally considered as an unpleasant feature of the storage of the oil, and as a protection from it, the oil tanks are, as a rule, provided with vent pipes the leaking oilforms'a thin spray of great velocityv which,

be apparent during the course of the following descrip- 2 tion.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of our safety oil tank,

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the same on the line 22 of Fig. 1,

liigure 3 is an elevational view of the same safety oil tan p Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 represents the oil storage tank, which is of the customary construction having an oval cross section and is supported by four tubular legs 2 attached to the tank 1 by suitable brackets. Located on the top of the tank 1 is the filling opening 3 and the vent pipe 4. The vent pipe is usually extended to the outside of the building and serves the purpose of carrying the malodorous gases discharged by the oil into the open air.

Adjoining the tank 1 is'the oil outlet pipe 5, having a detachable union connection 6, and leading to the service valve 7, which is a valve of the type generally used in oil heat installations.

when it strikes the casing of our safety tank spreads. out in a thin layer and liberates a great amount of malodorous gases which, carried out by the vdetector vent pipes will be readily detected.

, This warning will induce the home owner to ask for the help of a plumber.- The important advantage of our safety tank is, however, that the leak will cause neither the loss of the oil, nor the interruption of the heating. Theoil leaked out of the tank will merely accumulate in the lower section of the casing, until the levels in the tank and in the casing are equalized, without affecting the normal supplying of the oil to the furnace.

As an additional safety measure, after the detection of the leak the home owner will open the emergency valve 12, as a result of which the furnace from there on will be supplied from both the tank and the lower section of the casing until the whole oil supply is used up. When the repair man arrives, the service valve 7 will be closed and the leaky tank removed for repair or renewal without the interruption of the normal flow of oil, from the lower section of the casing, to the furnace. This emergency operation can be continued until the repaired or a new tank is installed, after which, the servdeparting from the spirit of our invention or the scope of v Enclosing the tank 1 is a rectangular casing. having a the subjoined claim.

We claim: 3 v g V An oil tank for holding and supplying fuel oil, having a filling opening; 'a vent pipe connecting the upper portion of said tank with the outside open air to conduct detachable upper section; said lower section of the casing being adapted and dimensioned so as to collect and con- V Patented July 12,1960

tain the oil that may leak out of a full tank until equal oil level is reached in said tank and said lower section of the casing; said upper section of the casing being detachably carried by the said lower section, having air gaps at their junction for ventilation; a detector vent pipe mounted on, and communicating with, the said upper section of the casing conducting the gases discharged from the oil contained in the said casing as a result of a leak in the said tank to a desired point facilitating the detection of said gases by their odor; an outlet pipe detachably connected to the said tank and passing through the wall of the said lower section of the casing; a service valve adjoining the said outlet pipe; a supply pipe adjoining the said service valve conducting the oil from the said tank; an

emergency valved conduit connecting the said lower sec- 5 tion of the casing with the said supply pipe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS,

Kimbrough Oct. 25, 1938 2,404,418 Walker f July 23, 1946 

